Good day, Mr. Jelínek,

I would like to ask your opinion on the issue of vitamin C and its various forms and dosage sizes. Is it better for the body to supplement three times a day with smaller amounts (3×50mg), or is it sufficient to take 500mg once a day from a time-release tablet? Additionally, I am curious about your views on the production of ascorbic acid from corn as the main source of this artificial vitamin production process. Could there be any negative implications from the fact that most cultivated corn is not GMO-free and is heavily burdened with pesticides?

Thank you for your response.

For water-soluble substances, it is generally more beneficial to consume them in smaller doses and repeatedly. Any excess currently consumed is excreted by the body, and higher concentrations are usually only advantageous within a therapeutic approach. A sustained-release system makes sense; I certainly wouldn't dismiss such supplements. The synthetic production of vitamins is debatable on many levels—from the origin of the raw materials used to the potential for the produced substance to be "reasonably" metabolized in the body. However, because the cost of synthetically produced substances is many times lower than their isolation or standardization from natural sources, finding alternatives is very challenging. The use of a synthetic substance in combination with extracts from selected plants appears advantageous, where the binding of the vitamin to phytochemicals significantly increases the bioavailability of the entire mixture.

Themes:  Supplementation   Vitamin C